• Solo Wilderness Retreats

    Guided time of reflection and contemplation.

  • Solo Wilderness Retreats

    Time to land in yourself.

  • Solo Wilderness Retreats

    Take responsibility for your life.

  • Solo Wilderness Retreats

    Feeling part of nature, being part of something bigger.

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We host ´vision quests´, also referred to as ´wilderness vision fasts´ & ´nature quests´.

Do you want to give yourself a personal time off daily routines?
Do you long for time in nature, in silence and contemplation?
Do you often feel like you’re lagging behind
and wish to change your approach to life?

Sometimes it can be valuable to take a step back and look at your life and your doing from a distance.
A week of retreat in wild nature can give you the opportunity to slow down, process, see, listen inwardly and draw inspiration from the “more than human world”.

Building up to 24 hours alone out in the forrest,
you will gain skills to be safe and comfortable out in nature. We will introduce different tools and techniques to help you dive into yourself and get in touch with your inner compass, a direction, a purpose, a meaning. This is to shift away from being in a re-active to a pro-active state of living.

You will be provided with the gear and knowledge,
adapted to the weather and the temperature that you will meet. It is possible to do a retreat whole year round: you choose the challenge, season and moment that fits you. Usually we build a basecamp right in nature – but it is also possible for us to arrange a nature cabin as a basecamp for the time before and after the solo retreat.

During your Solo time you will be without time, phone, books and social contacts.
That helps you to be present and focus on your intention.  Nature can be a mirror for you and nature images can help you to find answers to questions in your life. To get most out of the nature quest, we will give you preparatory exercises and practices for even before you arrive.

Do you dare to be by and with yourself?
Do you have the courage to be honest to yourself?

Spending time alone in nature, fasting, is a tradition
that spans throughout human history. Humans have been marking and navigating important life transitions by embarking on vision quests or other solo journeys into the wilderness since ancient times. These practices, rooted in various cultures and spiritual beliefs, have served as powerful rites of passage, allowing individuals to connect deeply with themselves and the natural world, seeking inner clarity and guidance.

“You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn

anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.”

‘Sweet Darkness’ by David White

Our Background and Experience
We have been both participants and organisers, hosts or ‘protectors’ of wilderness vision quests during the last 7 years, in all seasons, different countries, and with intensities varying from 24hours to 4 days & nights. Through this we bring experience and deeper understanding about the process, needs and requirements on how to host questers in solo retreats. We do those retreats in areas we know very well, and with permission of land owners and other nature stake holders.

A nature quest/ vision quest is not for everyone.
It requires an extraordinary level of dedication to self-knowledge. You give yourself the opportunity to gain more clarity and insight into your greater calling; to heal your personal story and break through into a connection with all that is. It is an honour to support those feeling called to it!

Contact us for an informal, un-binding 15minute call to explore if this could be something for you!

Standard flow & setup of a retreat:

  • Pre-Retreat:

    Intake Call

    Planning, preparing, tuning in.

  • Arrival (Monday)

     

    Settling in

    Arrival at the basecamp and exploration of the area.

  • Preparation (Tuesday)

     

    practical, mental

    Nature connection exercises and preparation of the vision quest.

  • Solo Time (Wednesday)

     

    Nature Vision Quest

    From sunrise to sunrise spending time alone in nature, fasting and in silence.

  • Reflecting (Thursday)

     

    Integration of the solo time

    Guided time to reflect, integrate and sharing around the fireplace.

  • Departure (Friday)

     

    Closure, transitioning

    Departure and travel day. Possible to exend the stay/ explore area.

  • Post-Retreat

    Online call

    Follow up call a week after.

Possible benefits & reasons for a retreat:

  • Life Quality

    When you zoom out, take distance and reflect, you align what you say, do and want. This increased honesty to yourself, integrity in your being and increased feeling of being safe (with, within) yourself directly leads to increased life quality.

  • Regenerate, Recharge

    Sometimes we need to take a step out of our daily routines, surroundings and habits. By spending time alone, offline and some parts even fasting, you create spaciousness in yourself that helps you sort out yourself. You take a conscious brake from communication, movement and practicalities, you center in yourself.

  • Cleanse, Heal

    By allowing yourself to have less inputs, from media, news, messages and by allowing for more being in the moment, things that want to be cleaned or healed within yourself arise by themselves as there is time to process. In the rush of daily life we usually just freeze these things and hope to forget about them, as there is no space to deal with it.

  • Perspective, Direction

    Zooming out and taking a step back lets you see things more clearly. Answers to big questions can come from within, and with an unprecedented clarity, often simplicity, that surprise many. You are your best own coach and guide if you allow yourself to listen to your mind, heart and body.

How did others experience the stay & retreat?

Being a week in Norway did deeply nurture me and gave a strong sense of direction for my everyday life. I surpassed what I thought I could do being out in late autumn by myself. I always felt safe, guided, its really well organised and the food is amazing. The location is already super unique as well.

Its a gift to yourself to get in contact with deeper questions about anything in your life, Its a challenge that will strengthening your mind and open up your heart your truth to yourself and people around you.

I got from it grounding, Strength, Insight, happiness and love.

Questions & Answers

Should you want to do such an individual retreat with us and we accept you, it is already paid for by previous persons.
For retreats, we do not take payment upfront, but an enabling contribution afterwards. This contribution helps us to be fully present for all future persons that feel the need or call. It enables us to provide food, lodging, general hosting and equipment exactly as needed and tailored to the individual wishes. It also enables us to set apart time for preparation calls, intake, and follow up conversations.

We do give a cost indication of 870EUR for a standard week long retreat.
The exact amount you want to contribute to our work you will tell us after the retreat.

+ Intake and follow up call
+ Preparatory documents on arrival, packing, preparing
+ Guidance before, during and after the quest
+ Food for the week
+ Some food that will be cooked for you
+ Tent/ tarp or bivy setup for during the retreat
+ Reinforcement clothing, sleeping bags and sleeping mats to borrow
+ Equipment needed during the quest

Upon booking we send out a detailed packing list and document on the arrival and preparation. The most important items to bring is an empty notebook, a sleeping bag (or sleeping bag liner), good outdoor shoes and clothing according to the weather.
Generally we offer all that is needed for camping, such as tarps, tents, stove, rope, mats, extra sleeping bags, woollen blankets, billy/ fire pot, fire lighting kit, extra warm clothes to borrow, first aid kit, saw, knife, etc. as part of the retreat. We also generally provide you with all the food you need, some will be cooked, some you will prepare yourself.

We try to provide local, regional and organic food where possible.
We can cater to special diets and needs, such as gluten free, sugar free, vegan, vegetarian if informed upfront.

Generally we will cook some meals for you, some meals you will cook yourself.
To simplify the diet before and after the fasting is part of the retreat design.

We will in most cases do the shopping for you and provide you with a balanced selection of produce.

We can assure you that we take safety very serious, and you will get a detailed safety briefing upfront. The safety will take several forms, such as many preventative measures to avoid dangerous situations in the first place, but also protocols for emergencies that work analogue. We are very much used to being with a phone or other means of emergency communication devices these days and it can feel scary to be out alone without. Should a participant feel unable to go without your phone, we offer postal seal bags so that the phone can only be used if absolutely needed.

Family/ relatives/ partners can have an emergency contact number of us so they could reach you indirectly when you are unavailable.

The hosts/ organisers/ protectors are trained in wilderness first aid.

Yes that is possible and can be a really valuable experience.
During the solo time in nature, you will however be not together and not able to see or communicate with each other.

Yes, this can be arranged. Send us an inquiry and we will make you a custom offer.

Yes, this is possible. We will find out with you together where you want to set the challenge for yourself – maybe for you it is the right thing to spend a full day alone out without the sleeping, or maybe it is already challenging enough to stay alone at a forrest cabin for a few days. We do not want anyone to be in the panic zone or push themselves too hard – the emphasis is on a nature-meditation, not on a survival quest. We support you in what nurtures you.

According to the weather forecast, the season and the abilities, experiences and wishes of the quester, we will suggest and provide a camping setup that could include or exclude a tent, tarp, fire, billy for warm water, warm water bottle, or even a stove within a tent. Our general approach is to:

  • Use as much as possible natural materials
  • As little as possible plastic
  • Use colours that blend in with the environment
  • Sleep as open as possible to nature, ideally under the open sky
  • Use fire only where needed, and use no excess fuel (wood)
  • Go with minimal equipment into the quest.

That being said, the quest should not be a survival quest by default or definition. So the idea is to choose the minimum amount of gear to be comfortable, without making gear and the camping setup a distraction of the actual quest. Fire bans might be in place during summer months.

During your solo time in nature, we will be protecting the quest, meaning also that someone is always standby and available 24/7 in case of emergencies or should a quester come out earlier than expected for whatever reason. More details on this will be given during the preparation phase.

The main tree species are pine, birch and spruce trees, with occasional willow, juniper or rowans. At the quest site there is a very high diversity of both plant, moss, lichens, trees, both young and old, the quality is equal to a nature reserve or an ancient forrest, with abundant deadwood, very old trees, moss covered ground, and very little traces of human presence or interference.

The area is at a slope, but offers plateaus, smaller and bigger rocks, cliffs, and a creek with drinking water quality running right through the middle. There are no marked paths within the area other than animal trails (gametrails), and the area is generally not evidently accessible or travelled by humans much.
Signs, tracks and sightings of birds, deer, moose, rabbits, foxes and trout in the creek are not uncommon. In the summer months, sheep, cows and the occasional goat graze freely on the hillside. It is highly unlikely to find traces or make contact with a predator such as the Wolverine, Lynx, Wolf, Bear in our area.

We offer the retreats all year round. We believe that participants of retreats choose their own challenge, and that what they choose, and what is here when they come, is exactly what they need to meet, or serves their quest.

From mid October to mid May there can be snow-coverage. A retreat and vision quest is still possible, although we recommend an extra acclimatisation and preparation day. We also will encourage you to sleep one night out at the cabin before going into the solo to test if the setup works for you.

Upon booking, we send out a detailed document on the arrival and travel.

You can reach Vågåmo by bus and train from Oslo. From abroad, you can fly into Oslo (nearest airport) or Trondheim (similar distance). You can also take a (night) ferry from Denmark or Germany, as well as international train and bus services.

We recommend you to arrive slow to our place and use the journey to unwind, arrange things that still need to be done or tune into yourself already. On the way home you will be glad for any time to integrate your experience before meeting daily tasks, routines, family and friends again.

Please read our general terms and conditions with regards to insurance coverage and insurance recommendations/ requirements. Participants will be asked to sign a release of liability form when participating in this program. https://wildernessvision.no/terms-conditions/

Unless otherwise agreed, the general terms and conditions apply: https://wildernessvision.no/terms-conditions/

Booking & Availability Calendar

  • First options in fall 2024 again. On short notice there might be openings, write us your wishes as we might have forgotten to update this calendar:
  • Booking Possible

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Apply & asking questions:

Please send us a message if you think you would need such a retreat.
Provide some background information, motivate.
We do not sell retreats, we provide them for those who need them most.


      © Copyright - Wilderness Vision AS - Be Wild Be Real - Org. Nr: 934 973 909